Miraitowa and Someity: Tokyo 2020 mascots make their public debut

Voted by children of many Japanese elementary schools, two futuristic fox-like creatures with special talent were picked as the mascots for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, and presented during a ceremony in the Japanese capital on July 22nd.

733 days before the start of Tokyo 2020, the official mascots of the 32nd edition of the Olympic and Paralympic Games finally made their first public appearance during a ceremony held at the Tokyo Midtown Hibiya on July 22nd.

Voted between December of 2017 and February of 2018 by more than 75% of the elementary schools in Japan — and by a number of overseas Japanese schools — the mascots are named Miraitowa and Someity: two lovable characters with superpowers and abilities to teleport between the digital and the real world.

Miraitowa is the blue-checkered Olympic mascot that merges the Japanese words Mirai and Towa, which stand for future and eternity, respectively. On its head and body, Miraitowa has the same blue patterns as the emblem of the Tokyo 2020 Games, and it expresses the hope of humankind for a bright future stretching off forever.

Its pink-checkered Paralympic counterpart, instead, was named Someity, a word that resembles a popular Japanese cherry blossom variety called Someiyoshino. Also, its pronunciation echoes the English phrase so mighty. Someity embodies Paralympic athletes who demonstrate the superhuman power to overcome obstacles and redefine the boundaries of what is possible.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics will be held from the 24th of July to the 9th of August, in 2020.

The competition will mark the second time that the Japanese capital city hosts an edition of the Summer Olympics. All the shooting sport events will take place at the Asaka Shooting Range.